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Thylacocephala

      The Thylacocephala (from the Greek thylakos, meaning "pouch", and cephalon meaning "head") are a unique group of extinct arthropods, with possible crustacean affinities. As a class they have a short research history, having been erected in the early 1980s.[1][2][3] They typically possess a large, laterally flattened carapace that encompasses the entire body. The compound eyes tend to be large and bulbous, and occupy a frontal notch on the carapace. They possess three pairs of large raptorial limbs, and the abdomen bears a battery of small swimming limbs. The earliest thylacocephalan fossil is thought to date from the lower Cambrian,[4] while the class has a definite presence in Lower Silurian marine communities.[5] As a group, the Thylacocephala survived to the Upper Cretaceous.[6] Beyond this, there remains much uncertainty concerning fundamental aspects of the thylacocephalan anatomy, mode of life, and relationship to the Crustacea, with whom they have always been cautiously aligned.
<I>Clausocaris lithographica</I> - a Jurrassic representative of Thylacocephala
Clausocaris lithographica - a Jurrassic representative of Thylacocephala
An enigmatic animal <I>Ainiktozoon loganense</I> probably also belongs to the Thylacocephala
An enigmatic animal Ainiktozoon loganense probably also belongs to the Thylacocephala
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR167
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR169
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR170
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR171
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR172
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR175
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR176
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR177
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR178
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR179
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR180
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR199
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR213
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR263
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR273
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR276
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR278
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR301
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR302
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR307

Virtual museum of the Czech Geological Survey, www.geology.cz, (C) Czech Geological Survey, 2011, v.0.99 [13.12.2011]